TOPIC: Hello everybody

Up until 4 days ago there was just the 5 of us, Debbie my wife, Jamie and Ashleigh my 23 year old twin lads, Alex - he's 13, and myself.

On Sunday we collected our lovely lady Keelagh the Japanese Akita rescue dog from Dogs Trust at Kenilworth.

She's settling in nicely and we've started to tire her out going for lots of walks (on the lead of course !).

She loves to stand at the window watching the world go by and I think she has only barked 3 times since we've had her. She does get a bit nippy when she's overexcited but it's only 'mouthing' and she does calm down quickly. I've had to have the fence and gates replaced with taller ones in a flash, but she's worth it

Ashleigh is a wheelchair user and she often wanders up to him and rests her chin on his arm, looking up with soulful eyes. She's very gentle with him especially.

I'll no doubt be lurking here for a while and hopefully I can post some 'noob' questions as they arise. I've been doing a lot of reading about Akitas before we got her and keen to learn more.

Hello and a very big welcome to you Robin, Keelagh and family geat tto have you with us and thank you so much for giving a special akita a new start in life

How old is Keelagh? she looks like a youngster

Well done for the sticking to the "On lead" rule as you know akita's are very good at doing things in "their" own time and recall isn't really a word most akita's beleive in my Asia will do anything for a piece cheese but not recall

Your girl sounds to be settling in well, the watching the world go by appears to be one an akita's favorite pastimes

She'll soon get over the excitable nipping, but in the meantime you could try the "loud yelp" technique, if you don't know it the all you do is "yelp" loudly (not too loudly, akita's can be very easily spooked) when she nips you and just like a puppy learns she'll soon learn that it hurts you

Sounds like she's found a friend in your Ashleigh, my nephew Adam was a weelchair user and everytime my old Benny (now passed on) walked by him in his chair he alwys made sure he gave Adam a gentle lick on his hand, it defiantly brought a smile to Adams face They can be very gentle for such large dogs

She's been lovely at home and one of my work colleagues has termed her a 'posh bird' now as she won't do her business in her own garden anymore, only when she's out on walkies (which we poop scoop and dispose of properly of course !)

She did rather blot her copybook a day or so ago though as whilst Debbie was taking her for a walk in the park she spotted something (we now know it was a cat) and reacted so strongly that she managed to pull Debbie over and got loose. She went after her but lost sight of her so rang me at work and i raced back to help find her.

By the time I got back (15 minutes or so) and I walked down towards the park entrance she was sat there good as gold with an old lady holding her lead and several children fussing her. Butter wouldn't melt... Happily everything turned out OK apart from Debbie having a multitude of bruises, but we've been taking her out in two's now until she socialised a bit more. I don't think she'll ever be a member of the local feline appreciation society though

They stay as "big pups" for a long time my Asia is stil a "big pup" and she's nearly 11! Asia is also a posh bird LOL

I hope debbies bruises have healed when an akita wants to shoot off it's hard to hold them back, they are very strong and determined My Aisia was a cat, bird and anything that moves chase it type of girl, but now she just looks at it and thinks "Nah...it isn't worth the effort" but if she was off lead she'd still have a go at running after it!

Keelagh is gorgeous!!!!! Thank you so much for opening your hearts and home to her, she will reward you a million times over.

My Tia is a little bit mouthy when shes excited, its a breed trait and usually they are very gentle when they do it. Some Akitas just like to hold your hand.

Shout up if you need any advice and we will do our very best to help you

They are a hunting breed and often have a high prey drive so cats, squirrels and birds all make for a good game of chase! Try to get her to focus on you by using high value treats when you see something she will want to chase and maybe walk her with a head collar so you have a bit more control over her when your out.

If your dog doesn't like someone, then you probably shouldn't either !